Woodturners
of South West Florida
President's Forum
I can’t believe that it’s
May already! This
month we have an expanded version of the homemade tool session that we
had a
couple of months back. That session went very well, but there was a lot
to
absorb in a short amount of time. Therefore this month I am asking that
we
bring in our home
made hollowing systems so we
can spend more time reviewing their attributes. Next month we will
revisit the steady
rest and
perhaps even look at some
plans for making some of these tools.
The
wood of the month is Camphor-Tree, Cinnamomum
camphora.
Last
year we had the opportunity to get some Camphor
-Tree from
the Edison
Estate. It’s a wood you either love or
hate. I suppose it’s comes down to how you feel about the smell of
Vick’s Vapor
Rub. The wood turns very easily and carves nicely as well. The first
piece I
ever turned came from a local carving show. The specific gravity of
Camphor
varies from 0.35 to 0.50 (Cherry is 0.50). In viewing the heartwood and
the
sapwood, there is hardly any visual difference,
but the tree tends to have streams of color running through the
grain as
though it was a fluid watercolor. When the tree is fresh cut and milled
on a
saw mill each cut can be spectacular. The colors range from light
yellow to a
rosy-pink with accents of burnished orange. The timber seasons well,
with some
warping, but remains fairly stable once turned. The trees here in Florida are
fairly large when they are cut, four foot in diameter is not unusual.
This is
one of those species that you will rarely find elsewhere than in this
region
the only commercial camphor is usually in the form of veneer, so if you
find a
tree being cut down, then spread the word.
Until next time, let the
chips fly!
Barry
Finver, WSWF President
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